UK Gov Urged to Cut Palantir Ties as Public Backlash Grows

More than 229,000 people in the UK have signed petitions demanding the government scrap all public contracts with Palantir, as backlash grows over the US tech giant’s expanding role in the NHS, police and military. 

The surge in opposition follows heightened scrutiny of Palantir’s ties to Donald Trump’s ICE immigration enforcement and the Israeli military – partnerships that campaigners argue make the firm an unfit custodian of British citizens’ private information. 

Matthew McGregor, CEO of 38 Degrees, the organisation spearheading the petitions, warns that the public is increasingly unwilling to grant such a controversial entity access to the nation’s “most sensitive” data.

What is Palantir?

Palantir Technologies is a specialised American software firm that builds advanced data integration and analytics platforms for large-scale organisations. 

Its primary products – Apollo, Foundry and Gotham – allow users to consolidate vast, fragmented datasets into a single, searchable interface. 

Originally funded in part by the CIA’s venture capital arm, the company initially focused on counter-terrorism and intelligence for the US government but has since expanded into the commercial sector. 

Its core mission revolves around human-driven AI, where software assists experts in identifying patterns and making high-stakes decisions in fields ranging from military logistics to public healthcare.

How is the UK using Palantir tech?

Palantir has £600m (US$809m) worth of contracts with UK public bodies, including a £330m (US$445m) NHS data contract.

According to Palantir’s official corporate case studies and public testimony from its UK leadership, the company’s Foundry and Gotham platforms are enabling 110,000 additional NHS operations and a 6.8% increase in cancer diagnoses via the Federated Data Platform.

Despite these reported gains, political opposition is mounting. This week, Green Party Leader Zack Polanski urged Health Secretary Wes Streeting to sever the NHS’ partnership with Palantir, stating: “I have today handed a letter to Palantir serving it notice to pack its bags and get the hell out of the NHS.

“This Trump-supporting military surveillance outfit has no place in Britain’s most important institution. The NHS cares for patients and brings our country together. Palantir’s most recent history is to actively aid and abet genocide in Gaza and to provide surveillance data for Trump’s paramilitary ICE squads, currently causing death and mayhem on the streets of America.

“When Wes Streeting can take some time out from meeting his private health donors, he should cancel this contract right now. If he doesn’t, my letter today to Palantir makes clear we will use every method at our disposal to force them out. Doctors have made clear they do not trust Palantir with patients’ private data, and with its appalling track record, I am with the doctors."

Beyond healthcare, Palantir has a £240m (US$323m) contract with the Ministry of Defence, providing secure data integration, analytics and AI platforms to support operational planning and decision-making. 

The Ministry of Defence and Palantir executives have highlighted Project Hyperion as a key driver for increasing Royal Navy vessel availability through predictive maintenance.

In addition, Palantir attributes the identification of over 1,000 hidden at-risk domestic violence victims to its data-integration work with Bedfordshire Police, a claim cited by Palantir’s EVP Louis Mosley as a primary example of the software's “social mission”.

The Guardian reports Palantir may have contracts on the table with the Metropolitan police and Scotland Yard to analyse sensitive intelligence.

The Latest from Palantir: a call for AI deterrence and defence 

In a recently released 22-point manifesto on X, Palantir argues that Silicon Valley owes a “moral debt” to the state, urging a pivot away from trivial apps toward a government-private partnership that prioritises national defence and the “well-being of its citizens”.

The document, authored by CEO Alex Karp and Head of Corporate Affairs and Legal Counsel Nicholas Zamiska, asserts that the era of AI-driven deterrence has arrived, making it essential for tech firms to ignore “theatrical debates” and build advanced weaponry to ensure the West retains its geopolitical advantage. 

Beyond defence, the company advocates for a radical professionalisation of the public sector, arguing that doctors and teachers should be paid competitively rather than expected to work as “priests” for a cause. 

This shift aims to attract elite talent to government service, ensuring that private sector innovation directly sustains the “enduring yet fragile” stability of the US and its allies.

The manifesto has sparked further backlash from the UK. Martin Wrigley, a Liberal Democrat MP, told the Guardian: “Palantir’s manifesto, which embraces AI state surveillance of citizens along with national service in the USA, is either a parody of a RoboCop film, or a disturbing narcissistic rant from an arrogant organisation.

“Either way it shows that the company’s ethos is entirely unsuited to working on UK Government projects involving citizens’ most sensitive private data.”